Bassenge Photography Auctions in Berlin is holding its photography sale on December 3, 2014, at 3pm. The auction has 365 lots, which include photographs from the 19th century to 21st century, as well as some higher-end photobooks.

There is a wide selection of quality 19th century material. A fine group of 18 Berlin views by Leopold Ahrendts (lot 4003, 18,000€) from the 1850s/60s gives an early impression of this ever-changing city. An exceptionally rare and important album of architectural details of the Louvre by Edouard-Denis Baldus from 1852-57 (lot 4011, 22,000 €) is another documentation of architecture and its changing face. Another rarity is an album containing large-format nature prints in multiple colors, rendering ferns and other plants in an elegant and print-like fashion (lot 4061, 4,500€).

Other 19th-century items include: large-format prints by James Anderson (1200 €) and Robert MacPherson (1200 €), the “Bust of Patroclus” from The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot, selected ethnographic and landscape studies of Ceylon, India (Bourne), China, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Sinai and Jordan, as well as rare and early stereoscopic views of San Francisco and the Pacific Coast by Carleton Watkins and Thomas Houseworth and some views of gold mining by the latter.

Highlights of the 20th century include a vintage print by André Kertész from 1929 (lot 4189, 5,000 €) depicting the artist’s wife and a group of friends on a picnic at Bois de Boulogne, Paris. There are several landscapes by Mario Giacomelli in excellent print quality (1,500 – 2,500 €). A rare image by Robert Mapplethorpe, showing Robert Sherman bending his head back (lot 4214, 6,000 €), offers collectors an opportunity to purchase both quality and uniqueness. Horst P. Horst’s “Classical Still-Life, New York” 1937 (lot 4175, 4,000 €) is indeed a classic, as well as “Carmen Face Massage, New York” 1946.

An attractive group of six signed, large-format Jeanloup Sieff prints (lot 4289, 4,000 €) are another. There are several intriguing “Lichtgraphiken” (light graphics) by Heinz Hajek-Halke and Kurt Wendlandt, a genre widely developed in Germany which involved working directly on the negative and not using a camera.

Contemporary photography is represented by a fine Nan Goldin print “Misty and Joey at Hornstrasse, Berlin” 1992 (lot 4151, 4,000 €) as well as by Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth and Lewis Baltz.

The catalogue can be ordered from the department, or can be seen online. Bassenge's catalogue can be found at: http://www.bassenge.com/bassenge/en/lose.asp?c=P. Several language versions of the information, including English are available on the site.